Bruce Arnold

Kids Singing Harmony Ear Training

Kids Singing Harmony Ear Training Book

Q: I noticed there was harmony listed on your track list on the website. I’ve always been fascinated by vocal harmony but have no idea what it’s about.

A: The construction of vocal harmony is generally different from instrumental harmony. Instrumental harmony is built below the melody. Vocal harmony is mostly sung above the melody, usually using thirds, but that can vary. For example, in Bluegrass or country music trio singing, the harmony is sung with the melody in the middle and the tenor part above, and the baritone below. As you move into Jazz vocal harmony you can get stacking of many 3rds above the melody, and in classical or choral music, the vocals are divided up by vocal range ie: bass, baritone, alto and soprano. But this can also morph into more of a contrapuntal approach so that it gets quite complex.

Singing harmony is a great tool for developing good ear training skills because it forces you to concentrate on your melodic line while one or two other lines are being sung. As you know I often talk about “context” and yes, this creates yet another “context.” This one can actually make you a more employable musician because if you can sing harmony you will get hired well ahead of a musician who has twice your ability on an instrument, but cannot sing backup. Vocal quality also isn’t as important with harmony because you aren’t the lead voice so don’t worry if you don't have the most beautiful tone; it’s more about blending well with others, being sensitive to the musical situation and of course being in "sync" with the other voices.

The Ear Training for Children book teaches you what the harmony notes sound like within a key center; it's not based on their distance from the melody, so this will really help your recognition of what the correct notes to sing are. This can also help with your intonation. One of the reasons that singers sing out of tune sometimes is they are singing melodies based on the distance between the notes rather than what each note sounds like in a key center. This is one of the many unfortunate outcomes of learning music solely via interval relationships. Also, the harmony in the Ear Training for Children is presented very simply and slowly so that you can learn very easily.

It is also recommended that you read Bruce Arnold's Blog at his artist site. It contains more discussion of the musical topics found in these FAQs as well as other subjects of interest. You will also find the "Music Education Genealogy Chart" located here which shows you the historic significance of the music education products found on the Muse Eek Publishing Company Website.